The Darkest Hour Before Dawn
by Thessily Thessilonikki
Summary: They always say the darkest time of night is in the hour before dawn. When the apocalypse comes (again), it is up to Buffy and Faith to stop the forces of evil from destroying everything they have always fought for. COMPLETE
1. Prologue

****

Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.

The Darkest Hour before Dawn

Prologue

Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer, strode along the sidewalks in the Docktown section of Sunnydale. It was nearing the fairly early hours of the morning, and she was ready to go home. Mostly, she just wanted to wash the dust from her hair. A shakedown at Willy's had riled up a couple of vampires.

Willy wouldn't be having any business from those two again.

A rumble overhead prompted her to pick up her pace. She looked up briefly, wondering at the sound of thunder in the cloudless sky, the stars still shining as brightly as they'd been when the night had begun, though the moon had sunk beyond the horizon.

The darkest hour is before the dawn.

The thought came unbidden to Buffy's mind as another rumble of thunder shook the ground beneath her. The Slayer was beginning to feel seriously wigged out.

Buffy suddenly felt cold, as though her body had been plunged into a vat of ice. She slowed her pace, then came to a stop. Took a deep breath, and turned.

Nothing.

Something slammed into her and she fell to the ground, her hands sliding on the concrete and scraping. They stung as she got to her feet, spinning around at the same time.

"Gross," she said as she saw her attacker.

It was about her height, slimy and a sickening green in the pale streetlamp lights. Slime dripped from its mouth, which was filled with teeth. Sharp teeth. Buffy wondered if her stake would be effective against the slime demon of the hour. She pulled it out and held it tightly in her hand anyway.

The thing shifted, changing itself. It grew taller, broader. It grew skin with a sickening sucking noise. Buffy watched in morbid fascination.

Then stepped back.

The thing had shifted its shape. It had become Angel.

"Hello Buffy," it said, and it was Angel's voice.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran.

~`~

Lindsey McDonald lay in bed, the fingers of one hand tapping erratically on his stomach. He frowned at the hand and tried to force it to lie still. No such luck.

He stood and walked to the window, looking out at the lights of the city. He yawned and wished that he could go back to sleep. The sun was barely breaking over the horizon.

Thunder rumbled and the window shattered inward. Lindsey instinctively brought his hands up to cover his face and turned away. Something cold, wet, and gooey slammed into him and he flew backward and hit the bed. Suddenly, cold-wet-and-gooey was soft, warm and feminine.

Lindsey moved his hands.

"Hello Lindsey," the vampire Darla said, tilting her head and smiling at him.

Lindsey scrambled to his feet and ran. He was going back to LA and the people who would know what the hell was going on.

~`~

The phone on the counter inside the Hyperion Hotel was ringing. Angel tried a little harder to work the key into the lock, the slime coating his hands impeding his progress severely. Finally it opened and he rushed for the phone, only to have it neatly caught up by Fred.

"Hello, Angel Investigations," she said perkily. Angel gave her the why-didn't-you-do-that-sooner-I'm-covered-with-slime look of death. She smiled at him. He started to go to look for a towel.

"Oh, hold on he's right here," Fred said. "It's Buffy," she whispered, holding out the phone.

Angel reached out and grabbed it, the plastic almost sliding out of his slick hands. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"And hello Angel, how are you? Do you ever just say hello? Are you ever JUST conversational?" Buffy demanded.

"Hello Buffy," Angel said, none too enthusiastic.

"There's weird stuff going on," she said, getting down to business. "And since you happen to have a nice, trained, Watcher-type guy handy, we thought if we called you, we might get some answers, because frankly, we've got nothing."

"Buffy, slow down. Relax," Angel said. "Wes isn't here, but maybe we can help. If you'll explain what's—"

The front door of the Hyperion clicked shut. Angel looked up sharply, knowing that he had forgotten to close the door behind him.

"Lindsey?" he said.

"Who's Lindsey?" Buffy asked.

"Hold on a second, Buffy," Angel said. He covered the receiver with his hand. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded of the former Wolfram and Hart lawyer.

"Something attacked me," Lindsey said. "Something large and slimy that exploded though my window and landed on me. Then turned into Darla."

Angel lifted the phone up to his ear. "What happened, now?" he asked.

"This thing attacked me," Buffy said. "Big, slimy, gross. Shifted shapes. Into you."

A startled look crossed Angel's face and he looked up at Lindsey.

Something was very, very wrong.


	2. One

****

Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.

The Darkest Hour before Dawn

One

Connor wrapped his blanket a little closer around him and looked up at the sky. He wondered what it would be like when winter rolled around and it got cold. Colder than it was already, at any rate. He sighed.

A surge of anger for the man who claimed to be his father rushed over him. The man who had killed Holtz, his father. He was suddenly itching for a fight, for anything that would attack him.

He stood up and started walking, tucking the blanket and his tiny pillow into a backpack he'd stolen. As he walked away from the other homeless crowded around the bridge, thunder rumbled. He tipped his head up. The sky was still as clear as before. Connor shook his head and kept walking.

A slimy hand wrapped around the back of his neck, and he spun around, ducking out of the thing's grip. He raised his fists.

The slimeball morphed and took the form of his supposed father—Angel.

"Connor," he said. Connor flew at the thing, his foot connecting with solid, hard flesh.

It was finally his chance to get back at his so-called father.

~`~

"Should we come to Sunnydale?" Angel asked into the phone, monitoring Fred as she washed the cuts on Lindsey's face. He wondered briefly how the ex-lawyer had managed to get a flight looking the way he did, his face scratched and his clothes mis-matched.

"I doubt that you can make any more of a difference here than you can there," Buffy said.

"Well," Angel said. "If I can persuade Wes to work with us, we've got a pretty tough crew here. If you need us."

"I'll make sure to give you a call," Buffy said.

"All right," Angel told her.

The doors swung open again, and Connor came in, dragging something along with him. He pulled the body to the middle of the floor and dropped it. It was the perfect likeness of Angel.

It was dead.

"Nice try, Dad," he sneered.

"You aren't supposed to be here," Angel said. Fred became intensely busy with Lindsey's lacerations.

"Of course not," Connor said. "I just thought I might return your shape shifting goo demon."

"Goo demon?" Angel asked.

"What is it?" Buffy asked over the phone.

"Yes, a goo demon. Big smelly greenish thing. Attacked me. You sent it." Connor said.

"Buffy, we've got a dead one here. Are you sure you don't want us to come to Sunnydale?" Angel asked her.

"If you've got one, I think it might be a good idea to examine it." Buffy said. "And I certainly don't want to be there when you do."

There was a pause. "Buffy?" Angel asked.

"Yeah?" the girl replied.

"What did you say the goo demon that you saw looked like when it shifted?" Angel asked.

"I didn't say," Buffy said. There was a nervous note in her voice. "But… Angel?"

"Yes?"

"It looked like you."

"Funny thing," Angel said. "The one that appeared to Lindsey took on Darla's form. It knew his name, even. The one Connor has here looks like me."

"The one that I saw knew my name," Buffy told Angel.

"You sent this thing, Dad," Connor snapped. He said 'dad' like it was the worst swear that could ever pass his lips. "Of course it knew my name."

"I don't want you dead," Angel said.

"What's going on over there?" Buffy asked.

"A little personal problem. It'll get worked out." Angel replied.

"No it won't," Connor said, and turned to leave.

"You. Sit." Angel said, pointing at his son. Connor glared at him a moment, then walked over and sat down next to Lindsey and Fred to sulk. Fred scooted away, keeping Lindsey between herself and Connor.

"Angel, is this a bad time?" Buffy asked.

"Not at all. Call us if you need us to return to the Hellmouth." Angel said.

"Of course," Buffy said. "If you find any information, let me know."

"I will," Angel said. "Bye."

"Bye."

The line disconnected and Angel hung up the phone. Gunn came in the doors.

"Whoa. What did I miss," Gunn said. "Why is evil lawyer boy here? Why is my girlfriend tending to him? Why did you let the brat back in?" He paused. "Why does Angel have two bodies? Am I losing my mind?"

"He's not evil lawyer boy anymore, because she knows how, he's my son, the me on the floor is a goo demon that shapeshifts, and no, it's been gone a while already," Angel answered.

Gunn stared at him. "Did you just make a joke?" he asked. "I could swear that you just made a joke. I must be going crazy."

"We've got a situation," Fred said.

"Like what?" Gunn asked.

"Goo demons. Dallas, Sunnydale, and now here, apparently." Angel said. He quickly related all the facts.

"So what are we going to do?" Gunn asked.

"Well," Angel said. "We call Wes, see if he'll help out. Then we relocate to the Hellmouth."

"Wait a minute." Gunn said. "The Hellmouth?"

"Sunnydale."


	3. Two

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.**

**Special thanks to my Watchers, Jessica and Kathy. Jess for naming my demons and looking others up. Thanks to Kathy for proofreading and making me skinny and graceful (not weighty and awkward). Thanks to Kit for being the Buffy expert and helping me out when I need info.**

**The Darkest Hour before Dawn**

**Two**

**Oz knelt in the moonlight beside the fountains in the Court of the Roses. He had visited once before with Buffy and Angel as they traveled Ghost Roads in search of the heir to the Keeper of the Gates of Hell. It was a place of power.**

**Oz fought the transformation from human to werewolf. He let the moonlight flow into his body and buried the wolf deep inside him. Then he sat back on his heels and took a deep breath. This battle was won, but there would be more, tonight and the night after, just like the night before, and every full moon before.**

**He looked at his reflection in the moonlit water of the fountain, watched it waver with the splashes from the spray above the pool. Footsteps echoed off the flagstones and the stone walls about him, and he turned.**

**"Willow," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper as he looked at the beautiful redheaded witch that stood before him.**

**"Hello Oz," she said, her face stretching into a smile.**

**"What are you doing here?" he asked. "How did you find me? What happened?"**

**"I love you Oz," Willow said.**

**"Last time I was in Sunnydale, you had a girlfriend." Oz said, confused.**

**"Things are changing in Sunnydale," Willow said, an evil smile crossing her face.**

**"Willow, is there something wrong with you?" Oz said, stepping over and reaching out to take her hand.**

**"Oh Oz, nothing's wrong." Willow said. Oz took her hand in his.**

**But his flesh did not meet warm, human flesh. He looked down sharply as his fingers sank into her hand. It wasn't her hand. Strings of greenish slime stretched from a clawed, dark, demonic hand. Oz jerked his hand away. The skin was covered in the green goo. It made his fingers tingle.**

**He looked up at the face. It was no longer Willow. Reddish orange eyes glowed in a face adorned with fangs and sharp protrusions, all dripping slime.**

**"Hey Oz, come with me," the thing said. It still used Willow's voice. It reached out for his neck.**

**Oz felt the urge to defend himself rise up in his stomach and set his heart racing. He felt the first signs of change begin, and he let himself go. He let the wolf out, set it free with his need for survival.**

**The werewolf that was the man Oz attacked the demon.**

**~`~**

**Willow Rosenberg and Anya Emerson struggled through the door of the Summers residence, carrying a very unconscious Xander Harris. The two Summers women were wrapped in blankets on the couch, an aged film rolling across their television. Buffy was flipping through some old book from a stack that rested near the coffee table. They turned in unison.**

**"What happened?" Buffy asked, standing immediately and shedding the blanket, revealing a tank top and sweatpants. She wore toe socks with yellow ducks on them.**

**"Xander had a date," Anya said. She dropped his feet and straightened, rubbing her back with one hand and brushing dark brown hair out of her eyes with the other.**

**"Dates usually don't end with the guy unconscious," Buffy said.**

**"They do for you." Willow said. "Sometimes."**

**Buffy said nothing.**

**"The girl turned out to be a type of succubus. She was ready to kill him. Of course, the little witch here had a premonition of some sort. And I just happened to be nearby, and, good Samaritan that I am, ran off the succubus and knocked Xander out." Anya explained.**

**"Did you have to knock him out?" Dawn asked. She had yet to move from the couch, and was definitely staying away from the present vengeance demon.**

**"If you can think of another way to keep a man driven mad by a seductress of that caliber from hurting himself or another person, I'd like to know." Anya snapped.**

**Dawn fell silent.**

**"That's what I thought," the vengeance demon said, smiling. Anya walked over and sat down on a chair.**

**"Have you heard anything from Angel?" Willow asked. She helped Buffy carry Xander over to the couch.**

**"Nothing so far," Buffy said. "But then, he said he'd call if anyone up in LA saw another goo demon, so I guess it's good that he hasn't called."**

**"Do you want him to?" Willow asked.**

**"I don't care either way. It's better that he doesn't." Buffy said.**

**"Who decided to call it a goo demon?" Anya asked. "Is that what it is? Do we know?"**

**"Angel's son called it that. He killed one. I assume that they're dissecting it." Buffy explained. She breezed past the fact that Angel had a kid.**

**"Angel's SON?" Anya asked.**

**"Angel's son," Willow clarified.**

**"How does he have a son? Big enough to kill a demon like you described, Buffy?" Dawn asked.**

**"He didn't tell and I didn't ask." Buffy said.**

**"Oh." Dawn said. She frowned.**

**"Um, I hate to interrupt," a voice said, and they all turned. "But I couldn't help but hear about this goo demon while I was on the porch, and, well, the door was open."**

**"Oz," Buffy said.**

**"Oh, and hi," the werewolf said. He had a healing cut high along one cheek.**

**Willow stared in shock. Anya smiled, jumped up and hugged him, as did Dawn and Buffy. Xander, still on the couch, grunted.**

**"What happened?" Buffy asked, examining the cut.**

**"I had a run in with something slimy while I was in Italy. Actually, it turned into Willow." He explained, gesturing at the redhead. "Or," he said. "It was Willow, then turned slimy when I reached out to touch it."**

**"Looks like Oz met up with one of our goo demons," Dawn said.**

**"Looks like," Buffy said. She walked to the phone to call Angel.**


	4. Three

****

Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.

Special thanks to my Watchers, Jessica and Kathy. Jess for naming my demons and looking others up. Thanks to Kathy for proofreading and making me skinny and graceful (not weighty and awkward). Thanks to Kit for being the Buffy expert and helping me out when I need info.

The Darkest Hour before Dawn

Three

Rupert Giles reclined in a chair in the gardens of his home, a book spread open upon his lap. He turned the pages absently, completely lost in thought. He felt strangely preoccupied, though he wasn't quite sure why. It could simply have been the product of years spent watching over the slayer, then the time spent with Willow.

He sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing his forehead lightly. He stared up into the turning leaves of the trees and let his mind drift back to Buffy, and to Willow and the rest of those he had known back in Sunnydale.

He sighed and slid the glasses back on. He slipped the ribbon hanging off the end of the book into place and slowly closed it.

"Rupert," someone behind him said quietly. Giles slowly turned. His mouth fell open, and he stared.

"J-Jenny," he said, startled. "That can't be you."

"But it is me, Rupert," the pretty Gypsy told him, stepping forward. "I've come back for you."

"Jenny, you died so very long ago. It cannot possibly be you." Giles said, standing, holding the book tightly against his chest, over his racing heart.

"Come on, Rupert. Come with me," she took a few more steps forward, until she was toe to toe with him. She reached out a hand to brush over his cheek. He dodged back.

"You are not Jenny Calendar," he said.

"But Rupert…" she said, and the voice distorted. The skin began to run with a thick green liquid, and suddenly, it wasn't Jenny Calendar.

"Oh my," Giles said. He searched through his mind for a teleportation spell, or something else that would send the demon far, far away from his home.

"All will die," the demon said, its voice thick. It sounded as though the same liquid that ran over its body and dripped onto the ground filled its throat.

A few words spoken in an ancient language and the demon disintegrated. Giles released a breath that he had not meant to hold. He frowned at the ashy mess that now marred the stones of his garden.

Then he turned and strode quickly into the house to call the group that resided on the Hellmouth and see if they were experiencing any difficulties.

~`~

The phone on the desk in the front lobby of the Hyperion rang. Barefoot, Fred raced the last few feet down the stairs and over to the phone.

"Angel Investigations," she said, lifting her tone and trying not to sound out of breath.

"Is Angel there?" Buffy asked. She was still skeptical about this woman that answered the phone. She still carried a fire within her for the man that she had once loved.

"He's out slaying some demon. I can't remember its name." Fed replied. "But I might be able to help."

"I guess…" Buffy said, then sighed. She'd just gotten off the phone with Giles, who had had an encounter with one of the shape shifting goo demons. He had sounded decidedly rattled. She was sure that she would have too, if someone she loved the way Giles had loved Jenny Calendar appeared to her.

"Buffy?" Fred asked.

"The demons are only appearing to us," Buffy told Fred. "Or so we've been able to find out. No deaths other than the usual vampires, which are being kept to a minimum, lately. No other demons. Anyway, the one that appeared to one of my friends told him that things are changing in Sunnydale."

"Okay," Fred said. "I understand that, but what do you want us to do? There's so much that we have to do here…"

"LA went for a long time without Angel, it can cope for a little while. I want him to come to Sunnydale. With Wes, and anyone else that can help us." Buffy said.

"I'll talk to him, and—hold on." Fred said. Angel walked through the door, a bit bloody. "Angel," Buffy heard the other girl say, "Buffy requests that you and Wes go to Sunnydale."

"Are things getting bad?" Angel asked. Buffy waited impatiently.

"I don't know," Fred said. "Maybe you should talk to her." She held out the phone, which Angel took.

"Buffy?" he asked.

"Yes?" she asked. 

"What's going on?"

Buffy explained the whole situation, what Giles's theory was, and what Oz had told her. Angel remained silent as she explained.

"So I figured, if you guys come to Sunnydale, it'll be easier to deal with the goo demons." Buffy finished.

"I'll see what I can do. I might be able to make it by dawn tomorrow, at the earliest. It's too late to start driving for Sunnydale now."

"No car with blacked out windows?" Buffy asked.

"I rather like my car and don't want to ruin the windows. Plus it'll be a little difficult motivating Wesley." Angel said.

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"Because we're not on the best of terms right now. But I will speak to him, conveying the message. Are you sure Wesley and I are all you need?" Angel asked.

"Actually," Buffy said, then was silent for a moment, before speaking again.

"We kind of need all the help we can get."


	5. Four

****

Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.

Special thanks to my Watchers, Jessica and Kathy. Jess for naming my demons and looking others up. Thanks to Kathy for proofreading and making me skinny and graceful (not weighty and awkward). Thanks to Kit for being the Buffy expert and helping me out when I need info.

The Darkest Hour before Dawn

Four

Dust settled on Dawn Summers's face.

She lay on her back on the sidewalk just outside the cemetery. Her sister's face came slowly into view above her.

"Remember what I said about the power a few nights ago?" Buffy said. "I think you forgot."

"Shut up," Dawn said. Buffy reached a hand down and pulled the girl to her feet. Dawn brushed vampire ash from her face and hair.

"Come on," Buffy said, smiling. "I need to be at the house when Angel and Wes get here from LA."

"'Cause you're SO ready to see Angel again." Dawn said.

"No," Buffy said. "Because it's good for the hostess to be there when her guests arrive."

"So they're staying with us?" Dawn asked. "Which, I guess, is cool, because Wesley is kind of cute and all that—"

"I do not need to hear this," Buffy said. She began walking down the sidewalk back toward their home.

"But it's the truth!" Dawn called, and turned as a hand settled on her shoulder. She almost screamed.

"Mom?" she gasped. Joyce Summers smiled at her daughter. "No," Dawn said, her voice breaking.

A hand covered in thick slime slid over Dawn's cheek, and she screamed. Her mother's face melted away before her eyes and the demon that Buffy had been describing took its place. Dawn screamed again and turned to run.

"Duck!" Buffy yelled. Dawn dropped to her stomach on the pavement, and heard the solid sound of boots connecting against muscle after sliding through slime. A sickening thud sounded in the night. Dawn rolled to her side in time to see her sister snap the goo demon's neck.

The older blonde turned back around. "I guess we can let Willow look at it now, since we have one and all." Buffy said.

"Yeah," Dawn said.

"Who was it?" Buffy asked. She watched a tear slide down her little sister's cheek. "Dawn?"

"It was mom," Dawn whispered. Buffy sighed. She leaned down and lifted the arms of the demon silently, her fingers sliding in the slime. Dawn stood and walked around to take the thing's feet.

~`~

Angel drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove toward Sunnydale. The drive from Los Angeles had seemed much longer than it actually was.

Beside him, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce slept. The ex-Watcher had come along with great reluctance, and then, only after being offered an opportunity to save the world had he offered to go along with the ride. Wesley snored softly, his head resting against the window.

In the back seat, Lindsey was singing along absently with the radio, his voice soft. Lindsey had been all for going to Sunnydale, for visiting the Slayer. Connor was beside him, half pouting and half-watching Lindsey.

Connor had not wanted to go to Sunnydale, and was subsequently ordered by his father to get in the car and shut up. Lindsey had spoken to the boy quietly for a few minutes, and the struggle was over. Connor seemed to take to the former Lawyer. Angel assumed that it had something to do with both Lindsey's and Connor's tendencies toward evil.

A song they'd heard three or four times since setting out began to play on the radio. Lindsey leaned forward between the seats and turned it up, singing loudly in Angel's ear. He winced, but said nothing. Connor joined in. Wesley stirred, and turned to look at Angel's son.

Connor blushed and ducked his head, the sound stopping from his lips. Lindsey stopped as well, and Wesley turned down the volume as they passed into Sunnydale.

The rest of the ride was quiet as Angel navigated the streets to Buffy's home. He pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. Buffy was standing on the porch.

Or rather, Buffy was standing over something that was lying on her porch. Willow was kneeling next to it. Willow got to her feet immediately.

"Angel!" She said, surprised. Buffy did not turn. She nudged the thing at her feet with her foot.

"Nice to see you Willow," Angel said, walking up onto the porch and giving the redheaded witch a warm hug. Willow actually smiled.

"Willow, Buffy," Wesley said, following Angel's steps onto the porch and hugging the blonde Vampire Slayer, then Willow. "It's good to see you both."

"Buffy, Willow, this is Lindsey," Angel said, pointing out the ex-lawyer. Buffy nodded, and Willow smiled. "Lindsey, this is Buffy, and this is Willow." He gave the witch a squeeze. Then he sighed.

"And that's Connor," Angel said, pointing at the boy, who hung back, leaning against the car.

"My son."


	6. Five

****

Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.

Special thanks to my Watchers, Jessica and Kathy. Jess for naming my demons and looking others up. Thanks to Kathy for proofreading and making me skinny and graceful (not weighty and awkward). Thanks to Kit for being the Buffy expert and helping me out when I need info.

The Darkest Hour before Dawn

Five

****

"I do NOT want them sleeping in my room."

The Summers sisters stared each other down in the quiet of their upstairs hallway. The sound of Willow and Wesley's laughter drifted up to them.

"Dawn, we have no choice. Two of them can stay in your room, because it's obvious that Angel and Wesley aren't getting along so hot." Buffy said. "And it's fine for you to sleep in here with me."

"Buffy, you CAN'T put them in my room. All my stuff is in there. Private stuff," Dawn said.

"Dawn, please, for tonight? We'll think of something better tomorrow." Buffy said.

Dawn crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "Fine," she said. "But I don't want Connor in there."

"Why? You like him or something? Don't want him to see your messy bedroom?" Buffy asked. She grinned. Dawn blushed.

"No, I don't. I'd just be more comfortable with someone I knew in there." Dawn said. "Like Angel or Wes."

"Well, two will have to sleep in there, but it will likely be Angel and Lindsey." Buffy said.

"Who's Lindsey?" Dawn asked. "I mean, have you met him before? When you visited LA?"

"No," Buffy said. "But I get the feeling we're all going to get to know each other a LOT better before this is all through."

"Yeah," Dawn said, then sighed.

"Now, go pick up your room a bit so that it's fit for living. I'll see you downstairs. Scream if anything happens."

On impulse, Dawn reached out and hugged her sister tightly. A look of shock crossed Buffy's face. Then she smiled and hugged Dawn back, and turned to head downstairs.

~`~

A young couple strolled down the sidewalk that ran through the center of Weatherly Park, in Sunnydale, California. Not the safest pastime, but still, quite romantic. She shivered and he squeezed her hand, walking a little closer to her. She smiled, and tipped her head back, looking up at the stars, and the moon glowing above them.

"That's strange," she said.

"Huh?" he said.

"The moon." She said. He looked up. The moon glowed red in the darkness of the sky.

"What the…" the boy began.

The ground beneath them rumbled, and the girl screamed, even though both were born-Californians and knew that an earthquake was no big deal.

A clawed hand reached from beneath the earth. Another joined it, and a body heaved from the dirt and shattered concrete, massive teeth snapping at the young couple. The girl screamed again.

Then the pair were slowly pulled through the concrete and into the earth. 

~`~

****

"Buffy," Wesley asked, his voice slightly strained, "Please tell me that Giles did not take all of his books back to England with him."

"Well, not all," Buffy said.

"What he left with us were destroyed when Willow went crazy," Anya said.

"Oh. Well. Um. How have you been doing research?" Wesley asked.

"We haven't," Xander put in. "We're heavy on the rush in and kill it thing."

"Oh," Wesley said again. "Well, if we're to find out how to get rid of these demons, we need to do research."

"I have this covered," Angel said. "Lindsey, Connor, do you care to help?"

Lindsey looked up at Angel, then stood. The chair Connor had been sitting in scraped across the kitchen floor as he stood. Buffy turned from the counter, carrying three glasses filled with ice and water, in time to see her little sister turn her head to keep her eyes on Angel's son.

"I'll get on the Internet and see if I can find anything," Willow said. She picked up three glasses of iced tea, and set two down before Xander and Dawn, keeping one for herself. She turned and left the room.

"I'm thinking we should set up a central room for, you know, research." Dawn said. "That way we're not all strung out and scattered over the house and we can discuss things."

"You're going to school tomorrow," Buffy said. Dawn frowned. "But it's a good idea, anyway. Will!" Buffy called, walking out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Angel, Lindsey, and Connor came back in carrying stacks of books. They placed them on the table, and Connor returned to his seat. Dawn turned her head slightly to look at him.

"Hey Angel," Buffy called. "Come help us carry some of this stuff into the kitchen." Angel went to help.

Lindsey slouched down into a chair and took a sip of water. Wesley glared at him. "When, exactly, were these packed?" he asked.

"Before we left," Lindsey said. Wesley made a noise of frustration.

"There are more in the car if you need them," Connor said. "And we can get them. But not right now."

"Yes, well," Wesley said, but said nothing else. He picked up a book and started leafing through the pages. Connor stood and started out of the kitchen. Dawn followed, and Xander, Anya, and Lindsey watched them with a raised eyebrow.

"That can't be good," Xander remarked.

Connor shot a glance into the living room as he walked by, to see his father staring adoringly at the beautiful Slayer. His eyes narrowed and he shook his head. All that desperation for finding Cordelia, and here's the man who called himself Connor's father, checking out the first girl that really comes along. He stormed out onto the porch, frustrated.

Dawn looked at what he looked at, and shook her head, smiling slightly. She followed Connor.

"Hey," she said, smiling at him. He looked at her.

"Hey," he said. He looked up at her.

The ground began to shake and Dawn screamed. One of the goo demons materialized in the middle of the porch. It did not bother to shift. The boards of the porch began to crack and Dawn screamed again. The front door flew open and Buffy and Angel charged out. A clawed and reached for Dawn, prepared to pull her into the gaping hole in the porch, into the ground. She crashed to the side and everything stopped shaking.

Dawn felt the warm body pressing hers to the cool wood of the porch, a heart pounding against her chest. She opened her eyes to see her sister standing in shock in the doorway.

Dawn turned her head to look into Connor's eyes.


	7. Six

****

Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.

Special thanks to my Watchers, Jessica and Kathy. Jess for naming my demons and looking others up. Thanks to Kathy for proofreading and making me skinny and graceful (not weighty and awkward). Thanks to Kit for being the Buffy expert and helping me out when I need info.

The Darkest Hour before Dawn

Six

Buffy jumped across the giant gap in her front porch and lifted Connor—none too gently—from her little sister's body. She pulled Dawn into her arms and hugged her tightly. Dawn looked over at Connor, then at Angel, then at her sister. She broke into sobs, and Buffy hugged her tightly.

"We need to relocate. Whatever that was, you can bet it will come back," Angel said. He, too, leaped over the gap in the wooden porch and pulled Connor to his feet.

"There's not really anywhere we can go," Buffy said.

"We'll go to the mansion. There should be plenty of room there," Angel said. Buffy nodded and stood, then helped Dawn to her feet. They all went back into the house, where the rest of those currently residing in the Summers home were watching, looks of shock on their faces. Wesley even had a book clutched to his chest. Willow and Xander were looking over his shoulders. Anya pushed Willow out of the way to get a better look.

"Are they killed?" She asked. "Is anyone dead? Injured, at least?"

Xander glared at her, but she took no notice.

"I suggest we go very, very soon," Buffy said. She was hugging Dawn tightly to her. Dawn's face was beginning to turn red in embarrassment, but she was grateful for her sister's arms wrapped around her. It made her feel safer, somehow.

"Why run scared?" Connor asked.

"Yes," Anya seconded. "Are we scared? Should we be scared?"

"Um, yeah," Xander said. "Because I don't know about you people, but I am SO not about dying or anything."

Anya frowned. "But we aren't dying. We have Buffy and Angel and a Watcher and Connor here is Wonder Boy or something with lightning quick reflexes." She nodded her head. "But if you want me to be scared I can scream and tremble on cue."

"No thanks, Anya, I'm pretty sure we can do without that." Xander said, frowning.

"Just let me know," the ex-demon said brightly. She didn't seem to understand how serious the situation was. But then, she rarely ever did. It almost brought a smile to Buffy's face.

"Anya," Xander began in a tone of voice that meant he was getting annoyed. He usually reserved the tone for Angel.

"Xander, just cut it out," Willow said. "Are you okay, Dawnie?"

Dawn blushed even redder. And she wished that Willow hadn't said that in front of Connor. "I'm fine," She said.

"All right then," Angel said, taking charge. He couldn't let them stand on the ruined porch for the rest of the night. Morning wasn't that far off, and he didn't relish the thought of being turned to nothing more than ashes when the sun appeared over the tops of the trees. "Let's pack up the books again, and anything else we might need, and head for the mansion."

"You have the keys with you?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"Always prepared for an emergency." Angel said. He turned and headed into the house.

"Yeah right," Connor muttered, and followed his father to assist with the books. Willow and Xander went to get the computer and load it into his car. Anya followed them, probably not with any intent to actually help. Lindsey came into the doorway, and helped Buffy get Dawn back across. Buffy briefly wondered how they were going to fix the porch. She sighed and leapt across the gap herself.

Lindsey caught her when she reached the other side. It was unnecessary, and for a moment, Buffy could only stare at him, startled.

"I know you didn't need help," he told her, "but I'm sure it's nice to be treated as something other than the Slayer for once. Just a normal girl."

Buffy was even further startled. She looked up into his eyes. He had a nice voice, too. "Thanks," she said, and found herself smiling. It was nice to be treated like a regular person. That was always what she wanted—to be normal. It was a rare opportunity to have, for her.

"Anytime," Lindsey said, then smiled at her and retreated back inside to carry books back to Angel's car as well.

Buffy stood on the porch for a moment longer, just staring into the night. She hadn't enjoyed a night without battles since she was a freshman in high school. She missed it dearly, but she knew the alternative to being a slayer was death.

Of course, she'd experienced death, and it had been a great reprieve from the misery that she had endured in life. She'd saved the world, she'd gone to heaven. She knew what awaited her the day she finally lay her stake aside and gave in to the evil that flooded the world. She'd read the Watcher's diaries, read the accounts of the slayer, from the shortest amount of time—only minutes before the girl lost her life and another was called—to the longest amount of time, a girl in ancient Greece who had lived to the age of twenty-nine. She knew that she was second to the title of longest living Slayer.

She was not the only one who had experience misery. Her little sister—who hadn't even really born, but was someone Buffy would give her life for, and had given her life for—had lost the same mother Buffy had. Willow had lost Tara. The forces of evil had prevented Xander and Anya from wedding. Angel was a vampire, and had been to hell and back, and had a son who hated him. Wesley had almost been killed and had a scar on his neck from one ear to the other to prove it. Cordelia was gone. Giles had faced death countless times. Faith was in prison for murder.

In the darkness, a single tear slipped down Buffy Summers's cheek. A tear for all the pain and suffering that she had experienced, for her mother, for Tara, for her first watcher, Merrick. It was for all the pain Xander and Willow had endured as her friends throughout the years. It was for Angel, who she would always love and never be able to be with. It was for Anya, who had brought so much misery upon other people, and who now paid for it with her ruined wedding. It was for Spike, who Buffy could understand being a decent person in life. It was for Giles and the misery that being a Watcher had visited upon him. It was for Oz, and for Cordelia. Just one tear, all she had left for those she'd been unable to save. A single tear for the Slayers before her, and for Kendra and Faith, the Slayers after her. One solitary drop for all of those that would fall to the evil that threatened to take over the world if one girl didn't stand up to it.

The tear fell for Buffy Summers, and with one last look at the night that she so desperately wished to enjoy, she went back inside her home.


	8. Seven

****

Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.

Special thanks to my Watchers, Jessica and Kathy. Jess for naming my demons and looking others up. Thanks to Kathy for proofreading and making me skinny and graceful (not weighty and awkward). Thanks to Kit for being the Buffy expert and helping me out when I need info. Another thanks to Chris for beta-ing.

The Darkest Hour before Dawn

Seven

****

Faint light filtered through the windows of the mansion through the heavy curtains. The walls were bare now, so unlike they'd been when Buffy had first set foot inside the place. Dust coated everything, no one having set foot inside since Angel had left four years before.

Buffy pushed back the heavy curtains, flooding the room with light. She sighed, breaking the utter silence around her.

During the day, during her sleep, she had dreamt. Not only dreams, but nightmares. She knew that she was not the only one having the nightmares, from the pale faces she passed in the halls, from the cries of fear the others thought no one heard. She knew because she could see it in Oz's eyes, on Dawn's face as she left for school, in Willow's silence as she surfed the Internet.

__

Buffy stood at the edge of a massive precipice, staring out at the other side. The sun had not yet risen, but the moon had set, and the stars were slowly fading away. The horizon had not yet begun to lighten. Yet in the still darkness, she could see the other side.

A line of wooden posts stood at the edge of the other side. Tied to the posts were all the people she cared for—Willow, Xander, Dawn, and Angel, among others she recognized. Directly across from her was Angel.

Buffy's fingernails dug into her hands as she clenched her fists, drawing blood. Watching her with a smile was Faith.

The rogue slayer drove the stake into Angel's heart.

Buffy had woken to the sound of her own scream.

~`~

The sun was setting, and it was that time where everything is not dark, yet nothing is light, when everything is blurred. The time before a night patrol when nothing would be out yet, when they expected nothing, and when everyone was growing antsy waiting to be able to move.

Buffy always worried that this, someday, would be the time something would attack. Not all demons had to stick to the night. Vampires, yes, but not all demons.

Willow was surfing the Internet, as she had been the entire day. Oz was plucking something out on Lindsey's guitar while the ex-lawyer watched, humming the melody softly as the werewolf played. Angel was somewhere in the back of the house sleeping, as was Dawn. Anya and Xander were attempting to help Wesley do research.

Connor was pacing. Buffy felt like getting up and joining him, instead of sitting around doing nothing.

"Can we do something?" Connor asked, turning and looking at Buffy. "I'm sick of just sitting here."

"What are we supposed to do?" Lindsey asked. "Run out and say here we are, come and kill us?"

"Maybe kill you," Connor said. "But not me, and not the Slayer."

"I'm sure you're invincible," Lindsey said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"Stop," Oz said. He'd stopped plucking his guitar.

"I know how he feels," Buffy said, turning her eyes to the windows, with their heavy curtains drawn back, the fading sunlight spilling in. "I'm restless, like I can feel something, something dark." She stood and walked over to the window, trailing her fingers down the glass. "I've never felt anything like it before."

Connor walked over and stood next to the window, the golden sunlight washing over him, as well as the slayer. He could see nothing unusual, yet he could not really see anything. Not isolated at Angel's mansion.

"I'm going patrolling," Buffy said.

"Buffy, you can't go alone." Oz said.

"From now on, until the end of this, we're three groups. Oz, I want you, Wesley, and Anya to stay here and watch my sister." She said. "Connor, Lindsey and I will patrol with one group, and when Angel wakes up, he needs to take Willow and Xander and form another patrol."

"Do you think this division thing is a good idea?" Oz asked.

"We don't have much of a choice right now. Can't you feel it?" Buffy asked. She walked over and knelt next to Oz. "You're as touched by the supernatural as I am. Can't you feel it?"

Oz frowned. He handed the guitar to Lindsey and stood, walking over to the window. He looked out, the sunlight pouring over his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he turned back to Buffy.

"I'm sorry, Buffy," Oz said. "I don't feel anything. Maybe I'm not touched the right way. You're the slayer. Specifically, a Vampire Slayer. Connor's the child of vampires. When Angel wakes, ask him."

Buffy sighed. "I'm going patrolling," she said again. "You can fight, right Lindsey?"

Lindsey put the guitar into its case and stood. "If I have to," he said. "I'm no good with a stake."

"Then we'll get you a sword, or something. What's your weapon of choice, Connor?" she asked. She went into the adjacent room. "Axes, maces, swords, stakes. Pick your poison."

Connor and Lindsey went in as well. Connor's face lit up when he saw the array of weapons that filled the room. Buffy slipped a stake into her jeans, into a sheath on her arm, and slung a small pack across her chest that rattled when she moved it, a sound that indicated it was full of wood, slender pieces of wood, probably stakes. She also picked up a crossbow, and Connor and Lindsey both knew that the pack contained arrows.

She lifted a sword from a shelf. It seemed to tingle in her hands, full of memories. This was the sword she had fought Angel with, she knew, the sword with which she had sent him to hell to save the world. She could remember it vividly, the way it had felt to destroy the man that she loved, the last kiss, knowing that he had been returned to Angel. She could remember the way the tears felt, the way they tasted. Her eyes welled up.

She handed the sword to Connor, yet the tightness she felt in her chest did not ease. She turned back to the wall, taking down an axe. Connor had passed the sword on to Lindsey, who was staring at it, trying to understand how he was supposed to work it. Buffy wanted to laugh, but at the same time, laughing seemed inappropriate. Lindsey held the sword back out to Connor.

"I'm not exactly trained to fight with a sword, you know." Lindsey said. "I'm more about guns, and um. Sledgehammers."

"How about… an axe? Or a crossbow. There should be another lurking around in here somewhere," Buffy said. "They're easy. Point and shoot."

"Careful what you give me. I've got a twitchy right hand. Kind of has a mind of it's own sometimes." Lindsey said.

Buffy and Connor turned and stared at him.

"Um. What?" Buffy asked.

"Angel cut off my hand," he said, holding up his right hand. "And the law firm I worked for, the evil bastards, gave me a new one that wanted to go back to its original owner's body. I deal with it."

"Well," Buffy said. "A crossbow okay?"

She held out her crossbow, taking the sword back from Connor. She removed the pack and offered it to Lindsey, who swung it around his neck. She took down an axe and handed it to Connor.

"Is there another? Like this one?" Connor asked, hefting the axe in his hand and feeling its weight. To him, it felt good, a beautiful weapon, a strong weapon.

"I think so," Buffy said. She looked around the room, then reached out and took a second axe from a shelf, an axe identical to the one that Connor held in his hands.

He swung that one too, moving both axes in tandem, shocking Buffy slightly, and certainly startling Lindsey. "Now we can go," he said.

Buffy handed Connor a stake, then slipped one into Lindsey's shirt pocket. "Just in case," she told him.

The trio left the mansion and headed into the city of Sunnydale.


	9. Eight

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.**

**Thanks to Kit for putting up with the garbage I feed her. She's the whole reason Connor has two axes, cuz I love her. **

**The Darkest Hour before Dawn**

**Eight**

**"Where's Buffy?"**

**Xander and Willow looked up from the books spread across the table in front of them. Wesley didn't even look up.**

**"Oh, good evening to you too, Angel," Xander said, then went back to the books.**

**"She went patrolling," Willow said. Xander looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Well, she did. Oz told me. He was there."**

**"The sun just set," Angel said. "How can she already be patrolling?"**

**Oz wandered into the room. "She felt something supernatural, got antsy, and decided to that Connor and Lindsey to see the sights before dark," he explained. "Oh, and whatever it was, Connor could feel it, but I couldn't. Buffy guessed it was some kind of vampire weird thing."**

**"That certainly wins for most words I've ever heard Oz say," Xander put in.**

**"She took Connor and Lindsey. On patrol." Angel said.**

**"Pretty sure that's what he just said," Xander said.**

**"They both tried to kill me. Does she know that?" Angel asked.**

**"She said that we were three groups from now on. Her, Lindsey, and Connor, and Wes, Anya and I would stay here while you, Xander and Willow were another patrol." Oz explained.**

**"This is the most I've ever heard him say the entire time I've known him." Xander whispered to Willow.**

**"Xander, shut up," Oz said.**

**~`~**

**Buffy broke into a jog, the setting sun at her back as she jogged down the street in front of her house. The porch was still in shreds, and she picked up speed.**

**Connor kept up with her easily, as Angel would have done. It hurt her to think that, even though she knew that it meant nothing. Behind them, Lindsey struggled only a little to keep up. Connor's steps fell into perfect rhythm with hers.**

**The graveyard was in sight. The sun was almost down, and Buffy slowed, then stopped. Connor went a few paces ahead of her, then stopped, turning back to look at her. Lindsey skidded to a halt, bent over to try and catch his breath.**

**"Tell me why it was necessary we run?" he asked.**

**"That was a short little jog," Connor said.**

**"Raise your hand if you AREN'T something supernatural." Lindsey said. He raised his hand up. "Yeah, that's what I thought."**

**"I just needed to get here," Buffy said. "Before the sun set. I needed to."**

**"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Lindsey asked.**

**"Something's calling the vampires," someone said in the fading light. A spiral of smoke curled up into the twilight sky.**

**Connor dove at the guy, stake at the ready.**

**"Stop!" Buffy screamed. Connor froze.**

**"He's a vampire. Stake them, they turn to dust." Connor said, sitting on the vampire's chest. The vampire lay on his back in the dirt, his cigarette forgotten in the grass about a foot away.**

**"He has a soul," Buffy said. She pushed Connor off of the vampire and pulled the vampire to his feet.**

**"I thought Angel was the only vampire with a soul," Lindsey said.**

**"Yeah, well, now he's not," Buffy said. She hauled Connor off of Spikes chest and pulled the blond vampire to his feet. "What are you doing Spike? I thought you were over that whole lurking around the graveyard in the dark thing."**

**"Yeah, well, I can't stay cooped up in the basement all day AND night, now can I?" Spike asked.**

**"I don't know," Buffy said. "I think you can." A smirk crossed her face as she looked at him.**

**"Oh, be nice now," Spike said.**

**"He doesn't act like a vampire. Well, except for the whole lurking in the dark thing." Lindsey said.**

**"Oh, I don't act like a vampire? Would you like for me to bite you?" Spike asked. He morphed his face, and Lindsey jumped back. His face flowed back into his human visage and he smiled. "That vampire enough for you?"**

**"Uh, yeah," Lindsey said. He held his crossbow up between himself and Spike. "But stay back, because I sure as hell don't trust—"**

**Spike dove forward and tackled Lindsey to the ground, the crossbow bolt going astray. Something hard and very heavy slammed into Buffy and she hit the ground.**


	10. Nine

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.**

**For Kathy, who doesn't even get it, but at least she's there to put up with it.**

**The Darkest Hour before Dawn**

Nine 

Buffy tried to get her feat underneath her to get whatever it was off of her. Her fingers sank into flesh, but the monster did not yield. She could hear the whistling of air around Connor's axes and knew that he was the only one still on his feet, from the sound of fists and Spike's grunting.

**The demon clamped it's hands around Buffy's neck before the blonde slayer could do anything. She managed to work a stake out of her pocket and stab the demon with it, her eyes locking on the yellow irises of a vampire. A very old, disgusting looking vampire. It didn't dust, and red and white spots started flashing across Buffy's vision.**

**Something brushed over Buffy's face and the vampire's face moved away from hers as though something was pulling it back. Its hands left Buffy's neck and scrabbled at its own as Buffy drew air into her lungs. The vampire turned to dust.**

**As the dust settled to the ground, Buffy's chin dropped.**

**"Lucky I was here to save you ass, B."**

**"Faith," Lindsey said.**

**"Hey Lawyer-Boy. You're lucky this vampire here was able to save your ass, or you'd be worm bait right now." Faith said.**

**Buffy stared. She knew that the other Slayer had been in prison for murder, so she wondered how the other girl was standing before her. Faith had a bruise across the top of her cheekbone, just under her eye, and a trickle of blood running down her chin. Other than that, she looked none the worse for wear, not like she'd broken out of prison and was on the run. She wore all black, a high necked sweater covering her entire upper body, in a very un-Faith-like manner Her dark hair was pulled back, and she wore no makeup. She grinned.**

**"You know, you can say something, B," Faith said. "I mean, sure, I tried to kill you, I tried to kill your boyfriend—he was a good lay by the way, but forget I mentioned that—and I was in jail, but I'm here now to help save the world—thanks to the council—and all you're doing is staring at me."**

**"How?" Buffy asked.**

**"You'd be surprised how quickly the Watcher's Council is able to get someone out of jail, especially after they've convinced the state and the wardens that they're all going to die if they don't do what the Council wants." Faith explained.**

**"Not to mention they probably used threats and a little blood letting to get her out," Spike said. He was sitting on the sidewalk, blood trickling from his nose, He flicked his tongue out and licked some of it away.**

**"That's disgusting Spike." Buffy told him. Spike shrugged. Buffy turned back to Faith as Lindsey walked over to stand next to the dark-haired Slayer. "Did the Council happen to mention to you what was going on?"**

**"Something about the First, whatever the hell that is. Actually," Faith said, "now that I think about it, didn't we fight something called the First once before?"**

**"Yeah, my Senior year of high school. At Christmas. It was appearing to Angel as Jenny Calendar and some other people, urging him to kill—oh shit," Buffy said, slapping herself on the forehead. "This is going to suck."**

**"Oh really?" Spike asked, sounding interested.**

**"Someone want to tell me what's going on?" Connor broke in. "What's the Council? Who's she?" He pointed at Faith. "Who's this Jenny?"**

**"In short, the Council watches over the Slayers," Buffy said.**

**"We used to work for them, don't anymore." Faith said.**

**"They're people like Wesley, except more… evil. And old. And more British." Buffy said. "This is Faith. She's the other slayer, the Slayer after the Slayer after me. That makes a lot of sense."**

**"I was called when the slayer after Buffy was killed," Faith explained.**

**"The slayer after Buffy?" Connor asked.**

**"Buffy died for thirty seconds, Xander resuscitated her, but another Slayer was called." Faith said.**

**"Jenny Calendar was Giles's girlfriend. Your father killed her when he reverted to Angelus," Buffy said, answering the last of Connor's questions.**

**"His… father?" Faith asked.**

**Buffy sighed. Lindsey answered for her. "Connor was born to Angel and Darla, apparently. He was taken into another dimension, where time passed faster than it does here. Thus, the much older Connor, when really he's only been alive for say, a year."**

**"I think we should continue patrolling," Buffy suggested.**

**"I think we should go inform Wesley of what we just found out," Lindsey said.**

**"Oh wait, you're telling me Watcher boy is back?" Spike asked.**

**"Spike—" Buffy began.**

**"Shut up or my stake's going to find a new home in your heart," Faith said. "Because guess what, you're a vampire. I'm a slayer. You know what that means, right?"**

**"Faith," Buffy said.**

**"I just wanted to put the fear of the Slayer into him," Faith said.**

**"Soul," Buffy said.**

**"No way," Faith said.**

**"Way," Buffy replied.**

**Faith checked Spike out. "He like Angel? With the whole, perfect happiness thing?" she asked.**

**"I don't' know. I haven't tested it out," Buffy said.**

**"Can I?" Faith asked. She smiled at Buffy.**

**"Can I just say, ew?" Buffy said.**

**Faith's laugh rang out as she threw her arm around Buffy's shoulder. Buffy vividly remembered her dream that day, when Faith had tried to kill her. She tensed, but didn't move the other Slayer's arm. She just started walking.**

**Spike stood and started after them. "Hot stuff, that slayer," he said, as he walked past Lindsey and Connor.**

**Lindsey shook his head in disgust and kept the crossbow, a fresh bolt notched into it, trained on Spike as the group headed back to the mansion.**


	11. Ten

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.**

**For Kathy, who doesn't even get it, but at least she's there to put up with it.**

**The Darkest Hour Before Dawn**

**Ten**

**_She is running down the street, her hair flying behind her like a silver flag in the moonlight. She is barefoot and she can feel the dew underneath her feet, feel the grass between her toes. Her pants are ripped, her shirt torn off of her shoulder, the edges covered in blood. Her shoes are long gone, and still she runs._**

**_Behind her, they are screaming. She follows the first rule of slaying—don't die. She can hear footsteps behind her, and still she runs. She doesn't look back, doesn't turn, doesn't waver in her forward flight. She is crying._**

**"What do you think it was, Buffy?"**

**Buffy looked up, startled, her cheeks streaked with tears.**

**"Buffy!" Dawn said. She moved to her sister. "What happened? What's wrong?"**

**"Buffy…" ****Willow**** said softly. "Why are you crying?"**

**Buffy lifted up a hand and touched her cheek. Her fingertips came away wet. "I didn't know." She began.**

**Across the room, Faith took a shaky breath. Buffy looked at the other slayer. Faith was hugging herself tightly.**

**"Don't die," the dark haired slayer said. Buffy took a deep breath.**

**"I just… I had a vision. Kind of like the ones I have when I'm asleep, but, you know, not asleep. I was running." Buffy said.**

**"You were in front of me," Faith said. "We were running away from the battle."**

**"I was all torn up, and my shoes were gone, and I was crying." Buffy explained.**

**"A slayer having a waking vision.** Very rare," Wesley said. He stood and moved to the bookshelf that lined the wall of the room. "I doubt that it's ever been recorded before."****

**"It hasn't," Angel said. "There's a prophecy that says something about a Slayer having waking visions instead of dream visions."**

**"Yeah," Spike said. "And it fortells the end of the world, too."**

**"So you're saying, since Faith and I had a vision, the world is going to end?" Buffy asked.**

**"Pretty much what it sounded like to me, B," Faith said.**

**"Well," Buffy said, "we're not going to let that happen, are we?"**

**"Nope," Faith said.**

**"What are you going to do about it?" Wesley asked. "You don't know what you're facing, don't know what you have to do to defeat it."**

**"You were always so negative, Wesley," someone said from the doorway. The entire room—Dawn, Wesley, Connor, Angel, Faith, Buffy, Xander, ****Willow****, Oz, Lindsey, Spike—turned toward the doors. Giles was standing there, holding a book in his hands. "Of course, this is the end of the world we're talking about here."**

**"Giles!"**** Buffy said. She ran over and hugged him. ****Willow**** and Xander followed suit.**

**"Isn't it nice that he's here?" Anya said, coming up behind Giles.**

**"It is since he just happens to know what's going on," Buffy said. "How did you know?"**

**"I assumed that, with the First starting to manifest, and those demons—"**

**"The goo demons?"**** Connor asked, leaning over the back of the couch and eyeing the British man in the doorway.**

**"Erm, yes.**** Who are you?" Giles asked.**

**"Who are you?" Connor asked.**

**"I'm Rupert Giles, Buffy's Watcher," Giles said, frowning at the boy.**

**"Connor," Angel said, warningly. "He's my son."**

**"Oh my," Giles said. "Oh my, my." He reached into the carryon bag that he had over his shoulder. He pulled out a book and began flipping through the pages. "Something about… hmm."**

**"Giles?"**** Buffy asked.**

**"Shhh, Buff, he's in research mode." Xander said.**

**"Ah. A child born to two vampires. Of course, this isn't in English, so…" Giles said. "I'll need to translate this." He wandered off.**

**"I'll go and make sure he doesn't get lost," Anya said, practically skipping off.**

**"Welcome back," Buffy said, sighing.**


	12. Eleven

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.**

**For Kathy, who doesn't even get it, but at least she's there to put up with it.**

**The Darkest Hour Before Dawn**

**Eleven**

**Giles sat at the head of the table with the book he'd brought open in front of him. Down the left of the table were Xander and ****Willow****, the computer set up in front of the witch, her fingers clicking away on the keys. Xander had his head down on the open books, sleeping. Down the right side of the table sat Wesley and Lindsey, Wesley slowly turning the pages of a book, his eyes closed, his head propped up on his hand. The sun was rising, and a beam of light was creeping its way across the table and onto Lindsey's face where he slept with his head on his arms.**

**Giles stood and walked with the book into the living room. Buffy and Faith were on the couch, leaning against each other, asleep.  Faith's dark hair fell across her forehead, and Buffy's hair fell in a blonde waterfall over Faith's shoulder. Connor was standing beside the window, the curtains peeking open. He turned and looked at Giles.**

**"Why aren't you asleep like everyone else?" He asked.**

**"Time difference," Giles said abruptly. "But I've figured it out."**

**"The prophecy?"** Connor asked.****

**"That, and what it has to do with you, and the slayers' waking visions," Giles explained. Faith let out a yell. Buffy jumped, startled awake almost slid off of the couch. She looked at Faith, Faith looked at her. They looked at Giles.**

**"What, may I ask, was that?"** Giles asked.****

**"Um.**** Prophetic dream?" Buffy said. Faith was sitting next to her, chewing on her lip.**

**"There was this girl. Dark hair, old fashioned clothes. She was a slayer. I could feel it," Faith said. "But she was dead."**

**"Lucy." Buffy said. "My guess is, Faith and I are having the same dreams, since our destiny seems like it's pretty much the same. Slay, die, you know."**

**"It was cold," Faith said. "And dark."**

**"We were on the ghost roads." Buffy explained. "With Lucy."**

**Lucy Hanover had been a slayer. Before she died. Buffy had met her and spoken with her many times while traveling the Ghost Roads, where the souls of the dead wandered.**

**Giles took a deep breath and sighed. "Well then. The apocalypse is coming." He said.**

**"Whoa with the bluntness there, Giles," Buffy said.**

**"Well, time is most certainly running short." Giles said. "The prophecy puts the date at the full moon." He held the book up and read from the notes he'd made. "The First will unleash the ancient evil upon the world, and all will perish."**

**"If it says all will perish, why the visions, why the slayers?" Faith asked.**

**"I'm not done yet." Giles said. "The Slayers will fight alongside the Vampire Child—note that it says Slayers, not simply Slayer. The world hangs on the choices of the ****Chosen****."**

**"Oh great.**** The fate of the world is once again on out shoulders." Buffy said.**

**"That is what being the chosen one is," Giles said.**

**"I don't know about these two," Buffy said, gesturing at Faith and Connor, "But I am so damn sick of the world resting on my shoulders."**

**"B, we don't have a choice," Faith said.**

**Buffy sighed. "I know. I just don't want to die," Buffy said.**

**"You told me, B, first rule of slaying, don't die." Faith said. "And we're not going to die."**

**Buffy stood up. "Right. We're not going to die. We're going to go and see Lucy." Buffy said.**

**"Going onto the Ghost Roads is very dangerous, Buffy," Giles said. "You know that."**

**"I've been there before, Giles. I can deal." Buffy said.**

**Faith stood up next to her. "I can deal too." Faith said, putting her arm around Buffy. The two women stared at him.**

**"Anything they can deal with, I can too," Connor said.**

**Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead.**

**"Well then. I guess we'll begin making plans to open the portal onto the Ghost Roads. But I want you to be very, very careful, Buffy. There's a great possibility that you could see things you'd rather not," Giles said.**

**"I've seen a lot of things I'd rather not," Buffy said.**

**"Your mother, Buffy.** And any number of spirits could be manipulated by the First." Giles said.****

**"And that's something that I'll deal with when or if it happens, Giles."**

**Giles looked at the young woman. She stood there, Faith's arm around her, her arms crossed over her chest, looking at him. She wasn't the girl he'd first begun training. She wasn't even the girl she'd been when her mother had died. She herself had died since then. She'd been to heaven, and she'd come back to battle evil. Against her will.**

**Now she was volunteering to risk her life.**

**"Well," Giles said. "I'll get to work on that portal."**


	13. Twelve

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.**

**For Kathy, who doesn't even get it, but at least she's there to put up with it.**

**The Darkest Hour Before Dawn**

**Twelve**

**"I missed this while I was all locked up," Faith said. Her hair flew behind her as she spun around, slamming her booted foot into the chest of the attacking demon. "Sick," she said as she pulled her foot back with a squelching sound.**

**"Missed what?" Buffy asked, bending backward and dodging a kick.**

**"Fighting.**** Beating things up," Faith said. She drove her fist into the center of the demon's face. It stumbled back, and her hand was covered in goo. "This is really nasty, B."**

**"It definitely gets the award for most disgusting demon," Buffy said, severing the thing's head. It splattered on the ground. "Yuck," Buffy said as the head of Faith's demon splattered to the ground next to Buffy's.**

**"Well then. I'd really like a shower now." Faith said. She held out her hands and swung them, trying to shake the goo off.**

**The two women started walking back toward the mansion, taking care not to touch each other or their clothing as they walked. Connor ran up to them.**

**"They're all going at it up at the mansion." He told them. "Angel found out what we're going to do."**

**"Oh no," Buffy said, and took off running. Faith and Connor followed behind.**

**~`~**

**"I'm not letting you send her there," Angel yelled.**

**"She must go. Only those touched by the supernatural can walk the ghost roads, you know this!" Giles cried. He had his glasses off and was gesturing wildly.**

**"Then I'll go instead! Oz and Faith and I can go. Not Buffy, not Connor." Angel was almost growling.**

**"Angel," Buffy said. She was standing in the doorway, Connor and Faith behind her.**

**"You could die," Angel said.**

**"I won't die." Buffy said.**

**"You're not going to stop us from going," Connor said. "Why are you always trying to keep other people from doing what they have to?"**

**"I don't want you to die!" Angel yelled.**

**"We're not going to die!" Faith shouted. "B and I are slayers. Connor's supernatural in some way. We're tough."**

**The Slayers stared Angel down.**

**"Angel, they really have no choice," Giles said.**

**"Tell you what," Spike said. "I'll go with them."**

**"I'm not trusting you with Buffy's life," Angel said.**

**"You think I don't love her as much as you do?" Spike asked. He looked at his sire, and Angel simply stared at him.**

**"What?" Angel asked. The whole room had focused upon the two vampires.**

**"I love the girl, that's enough," Spike said. He stood up. "I'll go with them, just to have a little protection."**

**"All of us could go. Big, slayer-y group," Anya said.**

**"No, we can't actually," Giles said. "Only those touched by the supernatural may walk the Ghost Roads, as I have said. I cannot walk them, and neither can Xander or Wesley. I'm not entirely sure about ****Willow****'s status, or Lindsey's, as she's a witch and Lindsey has his… well…"**

**"Evil hand?"** Lindsey said.****

**"Well, yes." Giles said.**

**"Okay… let me put it this way. I've only seen Faith in my visions. And the prophecy only mentions the Slayers and the Vampire Child," Buffy said. "So I'm going, and Faith is going, and Connor is going, and that's it!"**

**The entire room went silent.**

**"Giles, you better get crackin' on that portal." Faith said.**

**"All I have left is to simply open it," Giles said.**

**"Then get with the opening," Buffy said. "We're most certainly ready to go through."**

**"Buffy, please," Angel said.**

**"Angel, just stop."** Buffy said.****

**"Can I talk to you in private for a moment?" Angel asked, motioning out of the room. Buffy sighed.**

**"I suppose." Buffy said.**

**He left the room and she followed.**

**"Be careful," he said. He took the ring from his finger, the claddagh like the one that he had given her for her sixteenth birthday. He put it onto her thumb, the only finger on which it fit. Buffy looked down at her hand, then up at Angel.**

**"No," she said, and started to take it off.**

**"Please, Buffy." He said. He touched her cheek, and she leaned into his hand, closing her eyes. "I love you."**

**A tear slid down Buffy's cheek. "We can't, Angel." Buffy said.**

**"I'll look through the books. There has to be a spell, somewhere, that can make my soul permanent no matter what. So that I can be with you, Buffy," Angel said.**

**He leaned forward and kissed her softly. She pulled away abruptly and walked back into the living room, away from him.**


	14. Thirteen

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.**

**For Kathy, who doesn't even get it, but at least she's there to put up with it.**

**The Darkest Hour Before Dawn**

**Thirteen**

**An icy wind ripped through the mansion.**

**Arrayed down the front corridor were the Slayer and her friends, with Giles in the front, putting the finishing touches on the spell that opened the massive portal through to the Ghost Roads. Behind Giles were Connor, Buffy, Faith, and Spike, waiting. Further behind them were the rest of the occupants of the house, waiting, clinging to one another, all except for Angel, who stood in front of all the rest, his clothing whipped by the icy wind, his fingers moving, ready to reach out for Buffy.**

**Faith slowly stretched out her hand and took hold of Buffy's, gripping the blonde Slayer's hand tightly in her own. Buffy turned to look at the other Slayer, the one who existed because Buffy herself had died. Faith squeezed her hand tightly. Buffy could see that she was scared—beautiful, fearless Faith, scared. Buffy couldn't blame her.**

**On the other side of Faith stood Spike, looking down at his hand, where Faith gripped it tightly in her own. He looked at Buffy over the dark-haired Slayer's head. Buffy turned away from him. Connor stood on her other side, and she reached out and took the younger boy's hand, lacing her fingers with his and holding on, completing the chain. Connor looked at her, mildly startled.**

**The wind picked up, and Connor shivered, though he wore long sleeves. The clothes he wore were Xander's, and the pants were slightly large on his slender frame. The sneakers fit, but just barely. His hair flew into his eyes, and he shook his head, trying to clear his vision.**

**Next to him, Buffy took a deep breath, her blonde hair whipping into her face, the red sweater and army pants blowing taught over the front of her body. The stake in her pocket bumped against her hip as the wind whipped around her.**

**Faith was chewing on her lip next to Buffy, dressed all in leather, pants, jacket, boots, white t-shirt underneath the jacket. Her hands were sweating, clinging to Buffy's and Spike's hands. Her dark hair flew around her face, into Buffy's face, and back again.**

**Spike was the only one who showed no fear, his duster flying out behind him and making him look vaguely like Batman—if Batman had bleached blonde hair and wore ripped jeans and a skintight shirt underneath his cape. If Batman were a vampire.**

**"Incantantem Finite," Giles said, making one last symbol in the air with a candle. It hovered for a moment, then faded. "Now!" he cried, moving back.**

**As one, the Slayers moved forward, Connor and Spike moving with them. The tear in the fabric of the universe swallowed them up, and they were gone.**

**Angel sank to his knees in tears.**

**~`~**

**Darkness closed over them, darkness like plunging into a river made of melted ice. It pulled the breath from Faith's body, leaving no air to scream, no air to cry out. She couldn't feel, her body completely numb, unable to feel Spike's and Buffy's hands in hers.**

**Her feet hit solid ground, and she stumbled. Buffy's hand slipped out of hers, and Spike grabbed her, pulling her into his arms. She shuddered.**

**"Now what?"**** Connor asked, wrapping his arms around himself. "How do we find the dead slayer?"**

**"I am here," Lucy said, a wavering apparition before them. "It is good to see you again, Buffy, and Faith. And…" She turned to Spike. "This one has a soul, but this is not Angel."**

**"Spike's…. special." Buffy said.**

**"And you are the Vampire Child of the prophecy?" Lucy asked Connor.**

**"I guess," Connor said. "As far as I know, I'm the only child born to two vampires."**

**"Your mother's soul walks here, Connor," Lucy said.**

**The boy froze. "My mom?" Connor asked.**

**"Darla," Lucy said. "She will see you, in time. But I must tell you now, as time grows short. You cannot stop this evil, Buffy. Nor can you, Faith. When the time comes, you must run. If you do not, you will die, and that cannot happen. The most you can do is stay alive."**

**"Running away defeats their purpose," Connor said.**

**"It is your destiny to fight, Connor," Lucy said. "But Buffy and Faith must run. If they die, all will be lost."**

**"So that's it. We came here for you to tell us that, and that's it?" Faith asked.**

**"I can only tell you what I know," Lucy explained. Suddenly, the image flickered. "You must go," she said. "The First… they're coming."**

**The specter of Lucy Hanover, colonial Slayer, wavered and disappeared. Ghosts swirled around them. Faith screamed. Spike ducked down, covering Faith's body with his own. Connor grabbed Buffy's arm and pulled her out of the misty swirl of those long dead—and some not so long.**

**"How do we get out of here?" Connor yelled over the shrieking and moaning of the spirits. Buffy covered her ears, blocking out part of the screaming.**

**"I don't know!" Buffy cried. "The times I've been here before, there's always been a way off! We just have to walk until it lets us go!"**

**The flow of spirits subsided a little, and Spike stood, pulling Faith to her feet. He held onto her hand, and reached out for Buffy's hand.**

**"Then we're gonna walk," Spike said. "We're going to set off down this road, and we're going to walk until the bloody thing spits us out."**

**Buffy took Spike's hand, and took hold of Connor's. The four of them started walking through the cold and the darkness.**


	15. Fourteen

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) and I'm thinking that there really aren't too many spoilers. Old characters will be returning. Lots of Slayer/Vampire-with-a-soul action (and as far as I know, that doesn't extend to just Buffy and Angel).**

**The Darkest Hour Before Dawn**

**Fourteen**

**"When are they going to come back?" Angel asked. He was pacing up and down the room, watching Giles, his eyes narrowed.**

**"Er, um. When they are able to walk off of the roads. You have been there, Angel," Giles said. "You understand how they work."**

**"If Buffy doesn't come back, I will personally tear you limb from limb," Angel said, flashing vamp face at Giles.**

**The Watcher backed away, removing his glasses. "Angel, there is simply no need…"**

**"Then you better make sure that she comes back." Angel snarled, then walked away. Lindsey bumped into him in the doorway. Angel growled at the human and Lindsey dodged back.**

**"What the hell?" Lindsey asked. Angel shoved him, and Lindsey stumbled, sitting hard on the ground. He looked up at Angel, who stormed off. Lindsey got to his feet and walked into the living room, where Giles had sank into a chair, rubbing his forehead.**

**"What was THAT about?" Lindsey asked, pulling Oz's guitar into his arms and plucking absently at the strings.**

**"He fears that Buffy will not return from the Ghost Roads. There's always that danger, that possibility," Giles explained. "In working with the Ghost Roads, there's always the possibility that she, erm, could be trapped there. Indefinitely."**

**"Well, I can definitely see why he'd be angry at that," Lindsey said.**

**"Well, yes. Of course." Giles said. "I do believe that they will be back."**

**"I can do a locator spell, if you think it might work?" ****Willow**** said, coming into the room. She was twisting her shirt in her hands, all her confidence drained away at the possibility of losing her best friend forever.**

**"I don't know," Giles said. "Anything is worth—"**

**It seemed as though the entire mansion threw itself from the foundations on which it rested. Willow fell onto the floor, and Giles reached out and braced himself on the sofa. Lindsey bounced around a bit.**

**"What's going on?" Lindsey yelled. The flour was still bucking as he crawled over to check on **Willow******. A trickle of blood ran down her forehead.**

**He struggled to make his way down the hallway, to the room where Wesley, Anya, Dawn, Xander, and Oz were still researching. Xander met him at the door, hands and knees.**

**"****Willow****. Is she okay?" Xander asked. Lindsey nodded and continued into the room. Xander made his way down the hallway.**

**The first thing he encountered was Oz on his way out of the room. "Don't go in there," the werewolf told Lindsey. "Books falling. Dangerous." His voice shook as he was bounced across the floor.**

**Wesley stumbled out and fell over Oz, crashing hard into the wall before hitting the floor. He kept his eyes closed for a moment, before brushing his too-long hair out of his eyes and looking at Oz.**

**"Sorry," he said.**

**"No problem," Oz said. "I'm pretty sure my ribs are only cracked."**

**He continued down the hallway, toward he door. "Yes, well, getting outside sounds best at this time." Wesley said.**

**Lindsey shook his head and went into the room. Anya's legs were sticking from beneath a pile of books, unmoving. Dawn was crouched beneath the table, holding Anya's hand.**

**"I think they knocked her out," Dawn said. She sounded scared.**

**Lindsey pushed the books from Anya and checked her pulse, still alive, still breathing. He lifted her up and pulled her underneath the table with Dawn.**

**"We have to get out of here," Lindsey said. "If this goes on much longer, the place could collapse on our heads. You go, and I'll follow."**

**Dawn started crawling out of the room. Lindsey slid his hands under Anya's arms and started pulling as quickly as he could, struggling. For as small as she was, she was certainly heavy while unconscious.**

**"Someone give a little help here?" He cried. Oz made his way back into the hallway. "Grab her arm!" Lindsey said. "We've all got to get out of the house."**

**Oz nodded and grabbed one of Anya's arms. The two men began dragging her out of the house, struggling to move as the floor bucked and swayed beneath them.**

**A brick from the floor above crashed down, narrowly missing Oz's head.**

**"Okay, I think we should pick up the pace," He said. He began pulling faster.**

**"Giles!"**** Lindsey yelled. "Get out of here!"**

**Giles stumbled into the hall, bracing his hands on the wall. Xander and Willow crawled out of the room behind him, blood dripping off of ****Willow****'s chin. Giles made his way to the door and threw it open, and helped Oz and Lindsey pull Anya outside. Xander helped Willow down the sidewalk, and ripped off the bottom of his shirt, holding it to Willow's forehead. She looked up at him and smiled.**

**"Ow," she said. Xander let out a small laugh and wrapped his arms around her.**

**"Um," Oz said. "I hate to say this, but Angel's still inside."**

**"There has to be a way for him to get into the sewers from inside." Giles said. "He got around down there for more than three years, I'm sure he can get out."**

**The house began to collapse.**

**"Get back!" Lindsey yelled, pulling Anya back.**

**Stones tumbled onto the ground nearby. Dawn buried her face in Giles's shoulder, and he held her as though she were his child. ****Willow**** clung to Xander and cried. Xander kissed her forehead and rocked her back and forth. Oz sat next to Lindsey, who was petting Anya's hair gently as he held her in his lap. Oz just watched. He always just watched.**

**Now he watched the mansion tumble to the ground.**


	16. Fifteen

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) and I'm thinking that there really aren't too many spoilers. Old characters will be returning. Lots of Slayer/Vampire-with-a-soul action (and as far as I know, that doesn't extend to just Buffy and Angel).**

**The Darkest Hour Before Dawn**

**Fifteen**

**They walked in almost complete darkness, the faint silvery ribbon of the road stretched out before them, only the sounds of their breathing and the spirits who called the Ghost Roads home to accompany them. That, and the pounding heartbeat in their ears.**

**"How long?"**** Connor asked.**

**"Who knows?" Buffy replied. She was tired. Tired of walking, tired of not knowing whether they would ever get out.**

**"There's got to be a light at the end of the tunnel, love," Spike said. "Always is."**

**"That was really upbeat for you, Spike, Been practicing?" Buffy asked.**

**Spike opened his mouth to say something, but a misty shape appeared in front of them, in their path, wavering and forming into a solid shape, more solid than Lucy had been, more solid than any ghost they'd seen thus far.**

**"Connor," the ghost said, reaching out a hand for him. Connor stepped back, and the ghost withdrew her hand, a tear trickling down her cheek. The tear seemed to be made of diamonds, trickling down a cheek carved of marble.**

**Buffy recognized the ghost as a vamp she'd dusted when she'd first come to Sunnydale. The ghost's blonde hair shimmered around her face, blue eyes glowing like sapphires. She wore a red shirt and a white skirt, which Buffy thought odd, since none of the ghosts on the roads were solid or had any color on them.**

**"Connor," the ghost repeated, her voice whispery, breathy, but solid.** "Don't you… you don't know me?" She sounded as though she might cry.****

**"No," Connor said bluntly.**

**"It's me. Darla. Your mother," The ghost said, the diamond tears flowing freely down her cheeks.**

**"My mother killed herself," Connor said. "She didn't care about me."**

**"I had to, Connor. I had to die so that you could live!" Darla cried. "What have they told you? Did they tell you it was raining that night? That my vampire body was killing you, and Holtz blew up Caritas, because he couldn't fight within?"**

**"You killed yourself!" Connor yelled. "You never even waited to see me!"**

**"You would have DIED before you were born!" Darla screamed.  "My body would have killed you, Connor. And if it hadn't, I would have ripped open your tiny little throat and drained your blood. Is that what you want to hear?"**

**"I want the truth," Connor said.**

**Buffy stared in fascination at the crying ghost, and Angel's son. Faith watched, Spike's arm around her waist, holding her back.**

**"That is the truth, whether you want to believe it or not. I staked myself. For you." Darla said.**

**"Connor, she's telling the truth," Buffy said.**

**"How do you know?" Connor snapped, rounding on Buffy.**

**"She's crying. She's screaming at you and trying to get it through your brain that she wouldn't have done it if she hadn't had to. That, and I met her once. She loved being a vampire, Connor. She wasn't going to stake herself unless she had a really good reason." Buffy explained.**

**Connor sulked.**

**"Thank you," Darla said. "Even though you tried to kill me once."**

**"Vampire meets Vampire Slayer. You do the math." Buffy said.**

**"He's a vampire.," Darla said, moving toward Spike. "So good to see you. Give Grandmummy a kiss?"**

**"Sod off, Darla." Spike said. "I've got a soul now, just like Angel." He paused. "Well, not just like Angel."**

**Darla sighed. "What is this world coming to. All my descendants, reinsouled. Oh well."**

**Darla's image flickered, and the look on her face changed. She looked startled, frightened.**

**"You have to leave the Ghost Roads," She told them.**

**"We don't know HOW," Buffy said.**

**"Lucy!" Darla cried. A dark spot began in the center of her chest, and grew outward. "Lucy, we have to get them out of here!"**

**The ghost of the Slayer Lucy Hanover appeared, pale and transparent, next to the spark of color that was Darla. Lucy drew symbols in the air with her transparent fingers, and her lips spoke a soft spell in Latin.**

**"Why didn't you do that before?" Spike almost snarled. Faith reached out and gripped his hand, reaching out for Buffy. The blonde Slayer wrapped her fingers around Faith's, then grabbed Connor's arm. Spike jerked them forward, through the portal.**

**The world went blank, and all feeling disappeared. Faith began to panic again, until she felt the faint sensation of Buffy squeezing her hand. She opened her eyes, and saw nothing.**

**Then there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and they were standing in the moonlight among the ruins of Angel's mansion in Sunnydale.**

**"What happened here?" Buffy whispered.**

**"Oh my God."******

**Buffy whipped around, her hair flying in her face. Darla stood on top of what was left of the stairs. She was glowing in the moonlight**

**"I'm alive." Darla said.**


	17. Sixteen

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) and I'm thinking that there really aren't too many spoilers. Old characters will be returning. Lots of Slayer/Vampire-with-a-soul action (and as far as I know, that doesn't extend to just Buffy and Angel).**

**The Darkest Hour Before Dawn**

**Sixteen**

**"Bloody hell," Spike said. He walked up the steps to stand in front of Darla. He reached out to touch her, and she raised her hand and put it against his. "You are alive."**

**"Another part of the prophecy falling into place," came a voice from behind them. They all looked to see Giles sitting on the ruined sidewalk. Buffy picked her way down the ruins and threw her arms around him. Giles patted her back awkwardly, somewhat startled.**

**"What's all this prophecy garbage everyone's feeding us?" Faith asked. "Lucy tells us that we have to run, cuz that's what the prophecy says. Now you're telling us that Darla being the living dead—in non-vampire form—is some prophecy related crap as well?"**

**"Isn't it lovely being a Slayer?" Buffy said, letting go of Giles.**

**"Yes, well, it's the end of the world," Giles said.**

**"Obviously," Spike said, taking Darla's hand and leading her down the stairs. "What happened here?"**

**"An earthquake," Giles said. "One of definitely epic proportions, as it went on for almost ten minutes."**

**Buffy looked at him. "Well…" she said.**

**Everyone looked at her. Faith reached out and took her hand. "We've got work to do, B."**

**~`~**

**"Okay, so, the epicenter of the quake was here," Wesley said, drawing a circle on a map spread across the table in Buffy's house. It had been the only place left for them to go after the mansion collapsed around them.**

**"Then I say we go there," Faith said. She was sitting backward in a dining chair, her dark hair pulled back from her face. Next to her was Buffy.**

**Giles looked at the two women, grown so much from the girls they had been once. Where irresponsible teenagers had been, the two women in charge of saving the world now stood. But if ****Willow**** and himself could do anything, the two women could finally rest.**

**No rest of the wicked, Giles thought to himself. That was not his girls.**

**~`~**

**It was Buffy's worst nightmare. It was like the mouth of hell had opened and everything within was spilling out into Sunnydale. She was covered in sweat, covered in blood, her blonde hair matted to her head with gore. Angel fought at her side, tall, strong, her champion. A cut ran down the side of his face, dark blood running down his cheek and staining the neck of his white shirt—the lightest color she'd ever seen him wear, except for in her dreams.**

**Faith ran past her, pants ripped, hair flying, covered in blood. "Holdin' up, B?" she cried. Buffy made a grunt of assent as she swung her sword through yet another minion of The First. Spike fought at Faith's side, the perfect match for her, fire and rage and power flowing through both of them. Faith kept her back against Spike's, working steadily through dozens of harbingers and malformed, pure-demon vampires.**

**Buffy suddenly saw the fight from the outside, Connor swinging his axes, Angel snapping harbinger necks as they attempted to get to the Slayer. Spike lashing out with a torch, his peroxide hair glinting in the light of the fire. Faith carried a stake, shoving it into the hearts of demon and harbinger alike.  Anya and Xander fought together, over their aborted wedding and thrown together once again in the face of death. Oz watched over Giles, Wesley, and Willow, who worked to break open the dam that allowed the mystical power of the Slayer that said it had to be One Girl In All The World to go from a trickle to a raging river.**

**"Buffy RUN!"**** She heard faith scream on the edges of her senses. She came back to herself, and saw the first, in all it's non-corporeal glory striding into the fray, passing through the hordes as it moved.**

**Buffy remembered her dream.**

**The ground turned to mud around her and began sucking her down. Faith screamed and began to run, whipping into the woods. Buffy's feet slid easily from her shoes and she ran, ran for her life, for the Prophecy that would save the world, into the woods.**

**~`~**

**Darla was not in the slightest bit human. She still had the supernatural strength of her vampire self, while retaining her human emotion. She didn't know what she was.**

**Buffy and Faith had related their prophetic dream in great detail. When they departed, she knew she had to move forward. She strode into the battle, clean and shining, and moved to fight at the side of her son and his father. They fought, the three of them, this tiny, twisted family, bones cracking, blood spilling, dust flying in their faces and eyes.**

**The horde of demons began to diminish around them. The First remained, watching, using Buffy's form, battered, bruised, and bloodied.**

**The chanting that the Werewolf guarded grew louder, reaching a fever pitch. The air grew heavy and began to shimmer with energy.**

**Darla turned as she heard her son let out a cry.**

**"NO!" Angel yelled.**

**The First laughed, and the Legions of Hell departed as the Destroyer fell to the ground, his own knife protruding from his chest, blood soaking into the white shirt that he wore, stained and sweaty and thick with the ashes of dead vampires. Darla and Angel moved to their son's side.**

**"It has to be this way," Connor whispered.**

**Bloody tears streaked down Angel's face, dripping from his chin to splash onto the still-childish cheeks of his only child, his son. Darla's own tears, the pearlescent ones as she had shed on the Ghost Roads splashed onto the other cheek.**

**"Dad," Connor managed, dark blood—heart blood—bubbling from his lips, "you have to go. You have to fight, for me. For the world."**

**Darla looked at Angel, and Angel reached out a hand to close his son's eyes, glassy with death.**

**"Go," Darla said. "I will bring him out of here."**

**"You…" Angel began, but had no words. He motioned to her. She looked down, and saw her skin becoming translucent.**

**"I have to take him home now," Darla said. Angel merely nodded, watching as his Sire, glowing with the light of her forgiven Soul, gathered their son into her arms. "Go, Angel. Save the world. Save Buffy."**

**Angel stood and fled back to where Oz stood guard over ****Willow****.**


	18. Seventeen

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) and I'm thinking that there really aren't too many spoilers. Old characters will be returning. Lots of Slayer/Vampire-with-a-soul action (and as far as I know, that doesn't extend to just Buffy and Angel). This chapter is for Anya, who (SPOILER) died. I loved her.**

**The Darkest Hour Before Dawn**

**Seventeen**

**It was done.**

**The spell had been worked, and all that was left was for the final battle to happen.**

**Buffy stood at the kitchen sink, watching Angel through the window. Moments before, the shimmering form of Darla had appeared to him, and sat with him for a while before returning to her place on the Ghost Roads. Buffy hoped that she had come back one more time to assure Angel that Connor was fine, even in death.**

**The phone rang, and vaguely, she heard Dawn answer it. She heard her little sister call out to Giles.**

**The watcher went to the phone, and he motioned into the kitchen for her to pick up the extension and listen in.**

**"Giles, bloody hell, how did you do it?" a voice Buffy didn't recognize asked.**

**"Erm," her watcher said. "How did I do what, exactly."**

**"In the past hour, twenty-two watchers and counting have reported that their potential Slayer has been imbued with the power," the Watcher said.**

**"Ah, well, we worked a spell," Giles explained.**

**"It's supposed to be one girl in all the world! We don't have the resources to do this!" the Watcher cried, becoming more frazzled by the moment.**

**"Well, we just evened the score against, evil, didn't we?" Giles asked. "Because personally, after watching over two Slayers, it's certainly unfair to lay the fate of the entire world on one teenage girl. Now you don't have to worry about the world ending. Ever."**

**Giles hung up on the Watcher. Buffy stood in the kitchen, holding the phone. Giles came into the room, cleaning his glasses. The phone started to buzz, and all Buffy could do was stare at her Watcher. He slid his glasses back on and held his arms out to her.**

**Buffy dropped the phone to the floor and moved into Giles's arms. He wrapped her in a hug and held her tightly as she cried into his chest. Her petite frame shook with sobs as he held her, this girl who was no less than his daughter, if not by blood then by experience and sheer love.**

**"All I ever wanted was to be normal," Buffy said through her sobs.**

**"Now you can be," Giles told her, running his hand over her hair. Buffy looked up at him, her face streaked with tears.**

**"Your shirt is wet," she told him, very informatively. Giles broke into laughter.**

**"Erm, well, I rather think that's just fine," he told Buffy. She began to cry again and he brushed the tears away. He kissed her cheek, and she hugged him again. He was her family, he and Dawn, ****Willow**** and Xander and Anya.**

**Buffy took a deep breath.**

**"I think we have work to do," Giles said. The blonde Slayer nodded.**

**~`~**

**"Looks like it's just me and you, B" Faith said, flipping her dark hair back behind her shoulder. Both girls wore white. They had left Spike, Angel, and the rest long behind. From this point on, it was Slayers only.**

**"I guess so," Buffy said. She reached out and took the other Slayer's hand. Not the other Slayer, just Buffy. Just another girl now.**

**They moved forward, Buffy whispering the incantation that ****Willow**** had taught them to make the First corporeal, and killable. Faith joined in, and both slayers began to glow with a soft, blue light as they walked forward, their hands clasped together tightly. By the time they reached the chamber wherein the First resided, they were yelling, their voices echoing off the walls.**

**Harbingers began charging out, and he full-demon vampires with them. They couldn't touch the two slayers. Faith lashed out and knocked them away from her, but kept walking. Buffy didn't even bother. The aura that surrounded the two Slayers turned away all those who intended harm.**

**The flow of demons stopped as the two girls stepped into a half-lit chamber.**

**There was another Buffy sitting there, her blonde hair immaculate and untouched by the stresses of battle. She wore the same outfit as the earthly Buffy, just cleaner. Next to her stood a second Faith, her dark hair framing her pale face, as clean and as perfect as when the earthly Faith had stepped from the shower earlier that morning.**

**"Look B," First Faith said, swinging her hair behind her shoulder. "They finally learned."**

**"Looks like it," First Buffy said.**

**"Hell yeah we finally learned," Faith said, rocking back on her heels. "We finally learned how to kick your ass!" She sounded just like she had when she was younger and first Slaying. It brought a smile to Buffy's face.**

**Buffy smiled.**

**"Come and get it," she said. First Buffy sighed and slid from her seat, her heels—she was going to fight in heels?—clicking as she landed.**

**"If we must," she said. "Really, you could just give up now and we could not worry about it. Since we could both kill you with a flick of our fingers."**

**"You're welcome to try," Buffy said, falling into a fighting stance, her legs apart, her sword held tightly in both hands. The sword held memories—she'd had to kill Angel with it once to save the world. ****Willow**** had handed it to her and told her that love was the strongest of all power. Buffy believed that.**

**First Buffy flipped her fingers at Buffy.**

**Nothing happened.**

**First Buffy bellowed with rage and she and First Faith rushed the two slayers.**

**The last battle for the fate of the world began.**


	19. Eighteen

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) and I'm thinking that there really aren't too many spoilers. Old characters will be returning. Lots of Slayer/Vampire-with-a-soul action (and as far as I know, that doesn't extend to just Buffy and Angel). I couldn't let Buffy just… end, you know?**

**The Darkest Hour Before Dawn**

**Eighteen**

**First Faith slashed her fingernails, suddenly long and lethal, at Buffy's face. She had a sudden flashback of Drusilla slicing Kendra's neck open with her nails. Buffy saw it and felt it, though she hadn't been there. She'd been too late that time.**

**"Faith!"**** She cried. "Watch out! They can make us remember anything bad they want."**

**"So think happy thoughts," Faith said, slamming her open palm into the center of First Buffy's face. Blood splashed everywhere, splattering across Faith's white tank top. A broken nose wouldn't defeat the First, but it was a start. "You bitch," Faith grunted, rabbit punching the girl that stood before her, "you ruined my shirt. It was new."**

**"What a tragedy," First Buffy said, slamming her fist into the center of Faith's chest. Faith suddenly remembered killing the Deputy Mayor. She staggered backward.**

**"Happy thoughts," Faith whispered to herself. "I believe in fairies. Tink." She sent a spinning kick at First Buffy's head. The demon staggered backward, and the Slayer kept coming, her dark hair flying as she sent multiple kicks in the direction of the First.**

**She remembered when she first found out she was a slayer. She could feel the joy she'd always felt fighting rush through her veins. She remembered Richard Wilkins giving her her apartment. She remembered seeing Buffy in her dreams while she was in a coma, talking to the other girl like they were friends.**

**Most of all she remembered turning herself in to the police in ****Los Angeles****, starting her down the path to redemption. She thought of Wesley, her watcher, and Giles, who cared enough to ensure that she and Buffy would be able to live as normal girls. She thought about who she was fighting for, ****Willow****, Xander, Oz, Angel, and Spike—oh Spike, she wanted to come out of this for him, more than anything. She was doing this for Connor, who had died in the battle.**

**Faith slammed First Buffy against the wall, pressing her arm against the demon's neck. First Buffy snarled in her face, and Faith could feel bones cracking between her arm and the wall. She felt empowered, and thinking of Spike with his torch, and fighting next to him. She closed her eyes and felt power flow through her.**

**She snapped First Buffy's neck, then collapsed to the floor against the wall as the body disappeared.**

**She closed her eyes and sobbed.**

**Buffy fought against First Faith, slamming her fists into the solidness of First Faith's body.**

**She heard Faith whispering something about believing in fairies, and though about when she was little, watching Peter Pan with her sister and her mother and father. She thought about cheerleading back at Hemery, and First Faith knocked her back.**

**"Guess that wasn't a happy enough thought," Buffy said.**

**She thought instead about when she'd first met ****Willow**** and Xander. She thought of Angel, their first kiss, her first love, the time that he showed up at the Prom when she'd thought he wouldn't. She thought of the high school giving her the award for Class Protector. Tears started streaming down her cheeks as she thought about leading the Senior Class against the mayor at graduation. She thought about giving her life to save her baby sister, thought about her brief sojourn in heaven. She thought of Spike.**

**She still wanted to show Dawn the world. She wanted to go shopping with ****Willow****, she wanted to lounge around and eat junk food with Xander and ****Willow**** and stay up late. She wanted to train with Giles, who was almost her father.**

**She wanted to be with Angel.**

**Buffy suddenly felt warm all over, felt the feelings she had for her friends flow through her body, all the love she could possibly hold. She felt it spill out of her in a flurry of kicks and punches.**

**Buffy let her feelings flow out of her with her tears, down the hilt of the sword and through the blade as she plunged it through First Faith's heart. With a gurgle, the demon slumped to the floor and disintegrated around the sword. Buffy moved over to where Faith sat against the wall, sobbing still.**

**The blonde slayer gathered the other girl into her arms, and they sat there and cried until the others made their way into the chamber.**

**Giles walked over to his two girls and pulled them to their feet. He hugged them to him, tightly. **

**"Buffy, I think there's something you should see," Giles said. The blonde wiped her eyes and he led them back the way they had come.**

**Just outside, in the shadows of the trees, Spike and Angel were waiting. The entire clearing shimmered with the ghostly forms of past slayers. Buffy's eyes sought out one in particular—Kendra. She stood at the front of the crowd, the faint sunlight shining through her pale form.**

**It was morning. The First Evil had been defeated.**

**They had won.**

**Buffy looked at the deceased Slayers—not only Kendra, but ****India****, the slayer before Buffy. Marie-Christine, the French revolutionary slayer. The primal Slayer. Thessily, the Greek slayer. Nikki, the second Slayer Spike had killed. Slayers of every nationality, every race, every religion. All of them so young, most younger than Buffy herself. Lucy Hanover stepped forward.**

**"You won, Buffy," She said. "You all win. Buffy, Faith, you're free to live your lives now. But Buffy, there is one more thing…"**

**She motioned to Angel, and the dark vampire stood, and walked into the sunlight.**

**He did not burn, he did not turn to dust.**

**"Angel, Angelus. The demon with the Angelic face, Liam," Lucy said, giving all of Angel's names through the years. "The Powers That Be have decided that you have paid your debt. You have served the time for your crimes, and you are free."**

**Tears streamed down Angel's pale face. Real tears, water and not blood.**

**"Thank you," he said.**

**"Angel," a whispery voice said. Angel turned, startled. Darla waited, her form pale and ghostly. "You get to be happy. Like me."**

**Connor stood next to his mother in death. Angel sobbed and sank to his knees. Buffy went to him and slid her arms around him.**

**"Spike.**** William the Bloody." Lucy said. She did not motion him forward. "You still have many deaths to atone for. You have been given the gift of a soul, and the powers will not force you to live out your life alone, but you will not walk in the light, and you will not take the blood of the living, lest your soul depart and your body turn to dust. This is the pronouncement of the Powers That Be."**

**Spike looked at Lucy, broken-hearted.**

**"You are not alone," Lucy told him. "Not as long as a Slayer holds you in her heart. If you will hold her in yours."**

**Lucy looked at Faith, and the dark haired Slayer had the decency to blush. Spike turned to her, and she took his hand.**

**"The First is defeated, and this war is over." Lucy said, surveying those gathered. "For a while, we can rest."**

**The living were again alone in the forest.**


	20. Epilogue

**Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) and I'm thinking that there really aren't too many spoilers. Old characters will be returning. Lots of Slayer/Vampire-with-a-soul action (and as far as I know, that doesn't extend to just Buffy and Angel). This chapter is for Buffy's cookie dough analogy. She's done now. Warm gooey cookie goodness.**

**The Darkest Hour Before Dawn**

**Epilogue**

**Dawn was appearing faintly in the window, casting the first pale light of day over Angel's sleeping face. Buffy watched the light make its slow way across his face. She kissed him, her lips lingering on stubbled cheeks. His skin was warm against hers.**

**She started to cry, her tears dropping onto his tanned skin. He was human. He was hers.**

**Forever.******

**~`~**

**Author's Notes:**

**I wanted Buffy to have a happy ending. After watching the finale, I cried. I bawled. So many hours of my life went to this show. I'll miss it. It's sort of funny, though, since they killed Spike, does that mean that Buffy will have the opportunity to be with Angel? I doubt it. But that's what I wanted.**

**So to close the entire story: Buffy and Angel live out their lives together. Which is what I wanted all along. :)**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed.**


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